in flight. There was nothing to be gained by sending a man galloping
back to the line of the railway seventy-five miles to the rear--no
earthly reason for his doing so. But the fact that he had sent runners
to officers junior in rank to Stevens, and had not sent one to him,
fairly "stuck in the crop" of the captious old commander, and he had
determined to give the youngster a lesson. But now the mail was in, and
dispatches from various quarters, and a telegram from Omaha directing
him to convey to Lieutenant Dean the thanks and congratulations of the
general commanding the department, who had just received full
particulars by wire from Cheyenne, and Stevens was glad enough to drop
the game, and Burleigh equally glad of this chance to impress Folsom
with the sense of his influence, as well as of his justice.

"I admit all you say, colonel. I have long--ah--considered you most
unfairly treated, but really--ah--in this case of Lieutenant Dean's, it
is, as I said before, inexperience and--ah--the result of-ah--er--not
unnatural loss of--er--balance at a most exciting time. A word
of--ah--admonition, if you will pardon my suggestion, all he probably
needs, for he has really behaved very well--ah--surprisingly well in
conducting this--ah--pursuit."

And so was it settled that later the colonel was to see Mr. Dean, and
admonish accordingly, but that meantime the adjutant should go and
whisper in his ear that his arrest was ended, and all would be explained
later, thereby releasing him before the girls discovered the fact that
he was confined to his tent.

But the adjutant came too late. The tearful eyes of one, the flushed and
anxious faces of both damsels, and the set look in the eyes of both the
young officers at Dean's tent, as the adjutant approached, told him the
cat was out of the bag. "The explanation cannot be made too promptly for
me, sir," said Dean, as he received the colonel's message and permitted
the adjutant to depart without presenting him to the two prettiest girls
he had seen in a year. "Now, Loomis, just as quick as possible I want
you to go with me to that man Burleigh. I'll cram his words down his
throat."

"Hush, Dean, of course, I'll stand by you! But--both girls are looking.
Wait until to-morrow."

How many a project for the morrow is dwarfed or drowned by events
unlooked for--unsuspected at the time! Not ten minutes later Folsom and
Burleigh came strolling together to the little tent. Ashamed of